Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1887-10-08

on as a nine-days' wonder. There were
two wills; one produced from the safe
of the old notary of SchWartzberg; it
was written after the boys untimely
death, and gave the property to the
next heir Of the SchWartzberg barOns,
the male descendant of the absent
brother; the other viii was written on
the night of the barOn's death 1t was
disputed because 1t had been drawn up
when the testator was weak In mind,
on the brink Of death, and it had been
done at the instigatiOn of Schmidt him
self Well, all the village had been
amazed to discover who Fritz Hart
mann was; there was no doubt how the
case would go.
But the poor lady-it is sad for
her, said one Of the idlers outside the
inn.
"She is dying, anyhow. so It does not
matter, answered another. at does
not make any difference to the dead
whether they owned a castle or a
hOvel"
"But is she dying ?" with a shudder.
Eyes, in a whisper; "the portrait
fell-it was the omen She sickened
at once. 1t viii be "a great funeral.
Nv lord viii go back to his law-bOoks;
his time at the castle was a short life
and a merry one"
But Ludwig Schmidt sped home from
Geneva to his young wife. "Nictorvi
the decision is for us.
She raised herself from her couch
to lean the fair head against
his shoulder. al am glad TO think
YOU VIII be here-yOu viii not
be pOOr-When / am gone.
but you are not dying, darling
if you were dying 1t was Of fear, and
you shall fear no more.
DO not blame mel can't help be-
ing afraid, Bertha's weak voice said.
81 have heard of the Schwartzbarg
omen all my life. "
Poor child! You have heard too
much"
"And oh, Ludwig!" she went on, Il
am almost afraid to tell you-the night
you went away the stone eagle over the
gate fell down; and the night was so
still there was not a leaf stirring"
Now, the fall of the eagle over the
gate was q new form of the omen, and
it set Ludwig thinking for dear life
yes, and for a dearer life than his own.
That very night again the eagle fell.
For the second time it was put up, and
mOrtared and cemented into its place.
Bertha is sheeriy dying of supersti-
tion-dying of an old WOman's tale, E"
thought Ludwig, exasperated; "and yet
cannot explain this evil thing away.
If the poor child dies, it viii not have
been fOretold, it viii have been caused
by the fail of that picture in the tapes
tried room and this eagle over the
gate"
The so-called Fritz Hartmann was
leaving the village; he was taking
Martha and their child across the ocean
to make an emigFant's home in the far
West. He had refused a goodly sum
Of money from the castle. He would
have all or none He was to go to-
morrow; but it was a tomorrow that
never came.
"The eagle is down again, whispered
the kelner to his MASTER "and the ivy
is all broken and torn from the wall
and there is a man lying dead.
Ludwig hurried across the courtyard
and found Hartmann dead on his face,
with an ivy tangle beside him, and
the broken eagle.
Only then the kelner remembered
that each time the omen had come it
had shown itself after the visit of Hart
mann with his carving. As for the fall
of the antlers and the accidental death
of the boy-that, no doubt, suggested
to Hartmann an easy method Of clearing
the old baron out of the wav; for GER
tainly, when the mirror fell, and the
portrait, Hartmann the carver had found
an opportunity to help the nails Out OF
the wall and leave them loose. If the
young bride had died of superstition
and fear, there would have been no heir
but the man who had tried by legal
means, and lost his chance.
The lady of the castle blOOmed into
health she comforted the peasant
widow, and sent little Gretchen a
marriage pOrtiOnin time to come. But
the evil omen Of the Schwartzberg
never happened again; and the folks at
the Golden Dragon" refused the eX-
PLANTATION, rs credulOus folks always do.
"Ihe OUtcast died by the omen itself
at the castle gate, they said. "The
stone eagle killed him.
"Ihe wound was made by a fall, " said
the surgeon positively.
And yet at the Golden Dragon the
tale was told for many q year as the
finest and most creepy" instance Of
the Schwartzberg omen. For if men
tCiH enjoy a shudder, they won't have
an explanation.
CATARRH CURED.